Rent and Council Tax extra financial support and advice

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP)

Discretionary Housing Payments are part of the Crisis Resilience Fund which provides grant funding to local authorities in England to provide preventative support to communities, as well as assisting people when faced with a financial crisis.

You can apply for extra help with your housing costs, known as Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP), if you receive Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and this does not cover your full rent.

In exceptional circumstances, we can also use money from the fund to help you pay rent in advance to move into a new property.

How payment is made

Payments are only made for a limited time to customers experiencing financial difficulties.

A payment cannot be larger than the difference between your housing benefit or the housing element of your universal credit and the total rent you have to pay.

Extra Council Tax Support (ECTS) Payment

The Council Tax Support Fund has been put in place to help customers receiving Council Tax Support who need further help to pay their Council Tax bill.

A payment from this fund cannot be more than the difference between the amount of Council Tax Support you are entitled to and the amount of Council Tax you actually have to pay. We will pay this onto your Council Tax account. We will not give you any cash as part of this award.

For example:

You need to pay Council Tax of £12 each week, but you only get £8 a week in Council Tax Support. The most extra Council Tax Support, we can award would be £4 a week to make up the difference.

If the support is awarded, you will not receive money from us it will be added to your Council Tax account and a new bill will be provided which outlines the extra help you have received, and any new payment plan which you must follow.

How applications are reviewed

The Benefits team consider every eligible application individually taking all your total household income and expenditure into account. A decision is then be made on whether to make an award, how much it will be and for how long.

Making an Application

You can use the same form to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment or extra Council Tax Support payment.

If you have had a change in your circumstances since your last statement to the Benefits office you must report that first so that your entitlement is based on current details. This could be changes in your household, your income, or capital for example. Please tell us about your change in circumstances . Do not use this DHP/ECTS application to report changes for housing benefit/Council Tax support.

• Housing Discretionary Support Fund Policy [PDF, 145Kb]

We can, in exceptional circumstances, give a short-term Council Tax discretionary relief to alleviate hardship. This is called a Section 13A reduction because it comes under Section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act.

Section 13A reductions are for short term periods only. The amount and period of any reduction awarded is entirely discretionary.

The financial burden of awarding a Section 13A reduction must be met through an increase in the general level of council tax for other payers, therefore the granting of Section 13A reductions will only be made in exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional situations might include for example where fire or flood damage means you must move out of the property and your insurance company will not cover the costs of additional council tax payable if you move to a rental property whilst works are carried out.

We will look at each case on its own merits and will consider various factors.

You should only apply for discretionary relief once all other avenues have been exhausted.

To make an application, complete the Discretionary Council Tax Relief Application

Only complete the Housing Benefit and Council Tax review form if you have been asked to by the Benefits team.

Independent debt advice is available from the following organisations

• Money Advice Service
• Christians Against Poverty
• Step Change
• PayPlan

For help with budgeting and managing your money please use the Money Advice Service’s online budget planner.

Speak with our Debt Management Section.

It is important that you contact us if you are in arrears with your Council Tax account.  This gives us a chance to work together to clear the debt.  Arrangements can be made for you to pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

If you are not sure how much you can afford please complete our online Income and Expenditure Form: